2010/03/04
The interface design of „Drakensang: The River of Time“ or The economy of the mouse click
In the past developer’s diaries we have delivered you insights behind the scenes of our new role playing game “Drakensang: The River of Time”. You know now for example where the idea to the game came from and how we created the contents and transformed them technically. We have introduced a diversity of departments to you and shown you how important teamwork is. The latter is also a main part of the interface design. Why that’s a fact we’ll explain to you in the penultimate of overall 15 developer’s diaries.
The interface can be named as one of the most important and meaningful programming tasks. Because without it you simply couldn’t play “Drakensang: The River of Time”. It is the cutting site between you and the computer, the desktop that you are (in addition to mouse and keyboard) interacting and directing with in the game. The elements of the interface are its menus, character arcs, view of the hero, quick bars or land maps. Other parts are the numerous icons, buttons and sliders with which views can be blended in and out or the characters can be enhanced.
Working on the interface shows once again how the single departments are connected with each other. In addition to the programming that provides the functionality of all the menus and buttons the graphic design department is involved exceptionally. They designers are responsible for the good look of the interface. But first the game design team decides which menus and buttons are truly needed and which artistic direction the whole’s going to have. The graphic designer in charge of the interface has to think about the arrangement of it – for example when all buttons will be placed so the handling will be simple and intuitive.
Keyword: Design or arrangement. Of course we are taking a closer look at the competitive products and we’re analyzing which stylistic supplies (colors and forms) are being used and how the menus, buttons etc. will be arranged. It’s important not to break with the common playing and viewing habits. A role playing game – and you know that like we do – is with all its uncountable possible courses of action a really complex thing. And to get this complexity under control the interface has to be user friendly and manageable.
Certain standards from the last to decades will be kept at any rate. That means amongst other things that the mouse paths will stay short and the menus will be build logical. Besides unwritten laws define where the energy or quick bars will be set. The arrangement is somehow a science on its own. It has to be economic and efficient. Two important buttons should never be next to each other so the player won’t run the risk to push the wrong one by mistake. At the same time the visual of the interface has to be appealing and – in the case of “Drakensang: The River of Time” it should provide a medieval fantastic atmosphere.
Functionality and user friendliness of the interface come first. That contains as well that certain processes are running in the background – like dicing the fights and other trials. Who want to have the results of the attacks and paraded displayed can activate and output box that shows the complete challenges. There are similar possibilities with the creation of the characters: You have the choice if you want to dice every quality and talent value or if you want to enter the game with an automatically generated figure. The interface is also a tool to offer you the options and contribute to an individual gaming experience.
Compared to “Drakensang” some parts of the interface have been improved. After analyzing what you did or didn’t like we knew how the new interface had to look like. That’s why there are several design changes on the map, which we don’t want to reveal at this point. Actually the graphical style has been reworked again but still has a lot of its recognition value.
Apropos style: The DSA world elicit visual associations. That as well has to be considered in the design of our interface. These kinds of images are no tight corset but instead suggestions that leave a lot of artistic freedom.
But once again it has to be highlighted that our prior concern is the balance between a convenient visual design and essential user friendliness. We haven’t reached our goal, until these two factors flow together and result in a symbiosis.
2010/02/26
The nebula-engine of „Drakensang: The River of Time“ or What a game engine has in common with the Cologne cathedral
Imagine a role playing game as a kind of Lego brick castle that is made of hundreds of tiny building blocks. The ones on the top are the inventory or the fighting system. The complete technique, the engine that keeps everything running is underneath. The chief attraction of our nebula-engine is that the single technique bricks are flexible, that you can unhinge them of the engine without changing them too much. Why that is so great and how that’s making an impact on the work on “Drakensang: The River of Time” – we’ll explain to you in the thirteenth of overall 15 developer’s diaries.
The engine is not a particular program module but the complete technology that is hiding behind our computer games. Our nebula-engine is composed of many small engines like the graphic, physics or sound engine. Often the game engines only function really well with a certain gaming genre for example a 1st person shooter or a racing game. Because our engine is made of many modules and thereby more flexible they are not fixed on only one genre. We put user friendliness at the same level as performance.
That contains as well that the engine automates working processes and makes the flow smoother. So every night a so called “Build” of the game is being generated and provides us with the latest data. “A build?” you might ask. In principle it’s nothing else than the latest score of the game – including all textures, 3-D objects etc. It’s being created to find out immediately if an error has sneaked into the game. Eventually each department is working by themselves so that it’s not recognizable right away if the game is really running like it should be. Not until everything is flowing together and we see the latest version as a whole we can discover and repair possible errors.
The nebula-engine exists for about ten years now and is being developed further constantly ever since. For “Drakensang” we had the nebula 2 programmed. This especially designed engine for PCs is being refined for the prequel “Drakensang: The River of Time” and – thanks to the flexibility – equipped with parts of the still in development stated Nebula 3. Amongst other things we have switched the Speedtree software that requires a license to our vegetations-rendering-engine. Because of that we are able now to show real spruce forests – something we were enthusing about in the seventh developer’s diary.
Of course we are constantly working on optimizing the engine and trying to enhance the speed or reduce the memory capacity. It becomes noticeable in the resolution of the texture or in the enhanced level of details in the faces. In addition we get wonderful sunsets with our new backlighting. But it’s important to us that all of our improvements are blending into the game play and don’t distract from the actual action. They are supposed to emphasize a certain atmosphere and don’t turn into simple straining for effects.
But why an own engine? Why don’t we just use for example the very good unreal-engine like many other studios do? In addition to the flexibility that we attach great importance to, there is another more simple reason. When we began with the development of “Project Nomads” ten years ago there were only a few engines to license that has been geared mainly to 1st-Person-Shooter. But „Project Nomads“ was more than a mere Shooter, that’s why we have decided to program our own engine.
That gives us the opportunity to put the engine open source, which means we make the source code freely accessible. We publish a latest “build” of our nebula-engine in regular intervals so interested studios or hobby developers can download it. It’s wonderful that a communication platform is being created where programmer from all over the world can exchange about difficulties and also work on solutions.
Keyword: Exchange. Thanks to you “Drakensang” has a very lively community and on top of that a very innovative one. For example a game player who is suffering from arachnophobia (fear of spiders) received the advice from the community how she can use a little trick in the database and change the spiders into wolves. We want to support these small modifications, called mods, as well by providing the source codes.
Everybody who has worked once on such mod knows how much discipline and organization is required in developing a computer game. It displays very well in programming the engine. Because role playing game are if it comes to programming the most advanced games it’s very important that the program code has a clear and clean structure from the very beginning.
2010/02/11
Maybe you remember the first developer’s diary in which we’ve spoken about the idea behind “Drakensang: The River Of Time”. To turn an idea into a thrilling and round story you need authors who give the whole thing a right form of content. What their works is really about and why it can be compare to a classic pen & paper role playing game you’ll find out in the twelfth if overall fifteen developer’s diaries.
To create the plot is one thing to write it a whole different one. But how you have to imagine the text work on a computer game? After all this is not a book made of one single long text and could be read like it. First you differentiate between “in game” and “out game” texts. “In game” texts are all texts that occur in the game for example dialogues, short narrations in scrolls and books or the quest book. The “out game” texts are all the texts outside the game for example the handbook, character descriptions for intern use or the scripts for the cut scenes.
Every text format has specific functions and requires an own style of writing. So a dialogues gas to be informative and entertaining, the narration of a scroll atmospheric and the quest book short and concise. In addition the playing habits are very distinctive. For example some of you don’t want to spend to much time reading scrolls and books and interrupt the gaming flow. Others instead have the demand to find every document and learn everything there is to learn. Our authors have to include that as well. That’s why it’s important that all texts like the ones in the scrolls are not attached to the main quest. They shell create atmosphere and show more of the background.
Next to plenty of fantasy and technical skills our authors have organizational talent as well. They have to come to arrangements with each other and always know what the others are writing on. With a complex in content game like “Drakensang: The River of Time” there are always some changes so that you could quickly use the overlook. Our authors are exchanges constantly and adapt the diverse characters and locations what also has the advantage of inspiring and creating an maximum of creative variety. In a certain way our authors are the game directors because they not only write the story but keep it together as well.
Of course it’s necessary to work close together with the other departments like the level- or the environment design teams. With all the artistic freedom the ability of the technical implementation is always the main rule. However it’s not only about clearing what is possible or not. Rather alk the different departments are making suggestions to create a circulation. So it can happen hat the environment design team wants to point to a pretty or from the DSA point of view relevant landscape. Our authors are writing a text so you certainly won’t miss that moment.
Apropos DSA: Our authors are researching very efficiently before they use already established characters or refer to events in the DSA world. Let's take for example the figure of the paranoid magus Rakorium: Before they begin to write the character they study how the DSA writers have realized him, which characteristics and vocabulary they’ve given him. Rakorium is a lovely by very confused creature who speaks all the spells backwards and addresses every human, elf, dwarf as Nottel, the name of his assistant.
Although our authors are big DSA fans and have a lot of experience in the pen & paper variation they are in constant contact with the DSA editorial office. Several DSA editors and authors are not only looking after the names, year dates etc. not being mixed up but also write the one or another quest or “in game” text. By the constant dialogue with them an interesting exchange of thoughts is being created that proves as very efficient to the game and the story.
It’s clear that the complex DSA world that has grown over many years and is consisting of reams of story pages and rules can’t be simply transformed in one computer game. So much enjoyable for us that we always receive lots of encouragement – by the DSA editorial office and you as well! Because of that we have the feeling to contribute to the lively DSA world.
May in the future not just us but also the players enjoy to ride on the DSA river and continue to weave their adventures with the help of the rulebooks!
2010/02/04
n the eleventh of overall fifteen developer’s diaries we want to introduce to you the work on our cut scenes. A good well-rehearsed team is the requirement to create a persuasive computer game. Especially the cut scenes show how important teamwork is. Because it doesn’t only take a lot of time to produce cut scenes. The most different departments are involved in the process.
Before we’ll explain how a cut scene is being created and who is involved we want to answer the question what a cut scene actually is: Cut scenes are basically comparable to short films if it comes to camera angles and editing. They show an action in the game that can’t be influenced directly by the player. You can differentiate the cut scenes into three sorts: Intro, outro and intersectional sequence. While an intro is introducing the game and giving first hints for the plot the outro marks the fulminant ending. When something important happens in the game the player shouldn’t miss the intersectional sequence is being used.
However the cut scenes not only deliver information. They create atmosphere and intensify the plotlines. Because in “Drakensang: The River of Time” the stories between the figures are very important to us we use the cut scenes to give the characters more deepness, show their backgrounds and the complex and often funny relationship meshwork.
But now to the creation of a cut scene: It starts with the content planning. People from diverse departments are getting together to discuss what will happen in a cut scene. It’s very important to make clear at this point which basic conditions have to be kept regarding content and techniques. The technical guidelines by the level design for example have to have a common ground with the ideas of the authors so we won’t realize later that theory and practice don’t fit.
The script is being written by the authors in a classic script format with dialogues and directions. The rule of thumb is one script page is equivalent to one minute of a cut scene. That is a good guideline how long a cut scene is going to be. Overall we have 60 script pages for “Drakensang: The River of Time”, which results in almost an hour of intersectional sequences.
As soon as the script is ready the colleagues from the individual departments and exchange about the plotline. Often the storyboard – a kind of comic that describes the cut scenes – is being drawn on a board. That’s how we see immediately at which points the cut scenes are too long or have to be readjusted. In the reworks the cut scene is being readjusted until it meets all our demands.
As soon as this work is finished the main realization begins. Unlike the predecessor we are using more Motion Capturing with “Drakensang: The River of Time”. Thanks to this technique that we already introduced to you in the sixth developer’s diary “Animations” the filmic qualities of the cut scenes have improved. In the famous Pinewood Studios in London we’ve recorded the complete cut scenes together with three actors. “Only three actors” you might think. Yes, because the played all the parts from dwarf to humans, from elves to a variety of monsters. All three have a lot of experience as puppet players wherefore they were perfectly able to think themselves into the figures and feel the different ways of movement.
When this obstacle is behind us the remaining work isn’t that big anymore. The final animations will be only put over the various types of characters. Our new frame based cut scene editor saves us a lot of work as well. With it our cut scene animators can decide in a very uncomplicated way very precise what when and how it should happen.
However a cut scene isn’t only made of motion. The sound especially the spoken word is of big importance. Often we a running test sound recordings in the office. We are calling all colleagues together that we think will fit the voices of the figures. In a separated room we go through the scripts and record all the dialogues. That’s not only very funny but also very helpful because we can find out if the dialogues are really working. Some sounds possibly insinuating but it’s not meant like that at all – or reverse. To prevent these dangers we are making the test sound recordings.
In addition for the most important cut scenes for example the intro and the outro we’re producing animatics. Animatics ate animated storyboards that are rudimentarily added with dialogues and background noise. We’re also rehearsing tracking shots in which we are driving with the camera over the pictures or are zooming into them. In fact the effort is big but we don’t want to leave anything to chance.
But no worries! Only because the cut scenes are more extensive and professional it doesn’t mean that you’re playing an interactive film or that you are constricted in your freedom. We’re still putting the focus on the game play and the cut scenes are only giving the ounce into it to make the gaming experience even more unforgettable. The cut scenes and the active game events are coalescing and resulting in a harmonic whole thing.
2010/01/28
In the tenth of overall fifteen developer’s diaries we want to introduce to you the work of our balancing department. As the name implies this department makes sure that everything in the game is balanced. You could also call it the art of adequacy. As a gamer you want to be rewarded adequately and take worthy challenges. You neither want to be overextended nor not challenged enough because if there’s an unbalance the gaming experience doesn’t feel good anymore. If the game would be too easy it would annoy you as well as a game that’s too hard to play.
A not to underestimate part of attraction in role playing games is the possibility of the figures to develop in the course of the game. As a rookie you don’t owe much than the shirt on your body and maybe a stick to defend yourself. Until the end of the game you develop to a strong and fully trained knight, magician or the like. This developing process shouldn’t take place too fast since you would like to experience and enjoy it consciously. But it also shouldn’t be too long-winded, because you after a while you would get bored of the game.
Our balancing department defines how much damage something does, how much it’s worth, how strong certain magic is etc. Especially in this production you can see how important the work of our balancing team is. There will be a new magic in „Drakensang: The River of Time“. In the moment it’s so powerful that your character would be able to beat easily masses of enemies without even pushing one button. Which magic this is about we can’t reveal at this point. But fact is that this magic works far too strong and definitely has to be balanced. That’s what the balancing department is responsible for.
Another example is our weapons. A sword can’t only do certain damage but has certain qualities as well. All that has to be considered in balancing when the value of a weapon is being defined. For example how much money would you get if you’d sell the sword? The money flow is playing an essential part in balancing. If you would have too much money and be able to buy almost everything at once without thinking then anything could be for free anyway. If you wouldn’t have enough money you’d be mad not being able to buy all the useful things like great weapons and armament.
Indispensable with games like our „Drakensang: The River of Time“are also the possibilities to choose. If everything would be possible or all would function no matter how you decide a great attraction would get lost. Certainly it’s important to you that your decisions really have consequences for the game course. That’s also part of the balancing.
The team is balancing anything in the production that is connected to numbers. Our department has to calculate a lot. To represent all values and keep the overview they have to work with a huge amount of excel charts that intertwine and interfinger. They are almost like artists but instead of pins they are juggling with numbers.
The work of the balancing department is depending on the QA, the quality assurance team. Especially when it’s about creating an even fight by having several enemies. With a single enemy it’d be too easy. Therefore our balancing team goes into a chart, checks the data and change as needed the life or damage points. But if five enemies get into the game at the same time and their coactions have to be created you can’t regulate that with only one chart. It’ll need the QA department. It tests the fight directly in the game and decides if it feels too easy or too difficult. Of course we have to keep in mind that because of the constant testing the QA knows the game inside out and the tester can win the fight easily: If they think something is easy to play they know it’s balanced in average. If they can’t win it, then it’s definitely way too hard.
Numbers, numbers, numbers – that may sound very dry to you. However balancing is a very fascinating thing if you know what numbers can effect and constitute in the complete production. However our balancing team can only prescind the whole thing to a certain level. Then comes the phase of intensive testing. The game has to be played to get a true feeling if something is too hard or too easy or right. If necessary some parts can be readjusted.
In addition it has to be considered that there are diverse types of players: Some prefer an easier game, others like bigger challenges. To satisfy all this there will be different levels of difficulty in “Drakensang: The River of Time”. For that the balancing team is required as well. There are diverse possibilities how to create different levels. For example you can change the life and damage points of the enemy.
At all this we always keep our draft in mind: We have indeed some freedom to create a role playing game that functions ideally for gaming on a computer – but at the same time we stick the best we can to what makes the DSA so popular for many years now. If it comes to freedom in creating characters the DSA is unbeaten. There is hardly another game that gives the player so much freedom. Therefore our balancing team has one golden rule: In balancing it should also be basic that everybody can do everything. That’s why everything has to be kept in balance so the river of time can flow equally and never slows down or bursts over the banks.
2010/01/21
To create characters also means to give the game a soul. Because it depends on the credibility and the deepness of the characters how authentic and deep the game is going to be. Here for the figures not only need a fascinating story but an equivalent image as well. The latter is the job of our character design team whose work we want to introduce to you in the ninth if overall fifteen developers diaries.
The ideas for the characters are coming from the game design department. Here we decide what defines a figure, how it should act and the complete look. Then these short character descriptions go to one of our character designers. He draws a draft which later gets corrections form the game design team and finally everything goes into the pipeline – the character awakes to life!
In principle it’s no difference with game characters then with us people. The carrying structure, the basic construction so to speak, is the skeleton. At “Drakensang: The River of Time” the players figures have three optional skeleton categories that vary especially in the proportions: a human male, a human female and a dwarfish one. Mostly it’s clear which skeleton will be assigned to a figure. But it can happen that a human character can be based on a dwarfish skeleton – for example when it is about a plump, stocky type.
Of course our engine allows us to scale miscellaneous bones and design the proportions more individual. We can make the heads bigger or smaller, the arms longer or shorter and expand the upper part of the body. For example elves are distinguished by a svelte almost androgynous physique. To reach this effect we just extend a female skeleton. With monsters it’s a bit more complicated. We often have to design new skeletons or change the basic ones completely. The effort is big but worthwhile in every aspect, because the world appears much more diversified.
However to give the figures their unmistakable image you need more than just a basic structure: You need certain clothing, visible equipment and a concise face. At this the so called “normal mapping” is very important. It makes an immense richness in details at the textures possible despite limited amount of polygons – the single geometric forms that the figures are made of. The robe develops creases, the battleaxe has scratches or a character has a distinctive scar in the face. With this technique we are able to show much more details than the polygons actually allow to. The advantage: We create a wider visual variety without using unnecessary processing power.
Compared to “Drakensang“ Normal Mapping is being used more often, so we are able to improve the entire look in many parts. Especially the faces give the characters the expressivity and profundity. They should be memorable and contribute to a unique gaming experience.
That’s why is the biggest fun for us to design characters with edges, droll types you suddenly can connect a certain story with their hooknose or eye patch. In general we are anxious to create many distinctive characters for “Drakensang: The River Of Time”. No sleek average standard figures but darker types with crooked features or heavy female warriors that reveal at the first sight that they are strong enough to fight their enemy to the ground.
These characters are closer to reality. For example real people rarely have symmetric features even if the common beauty ideal is preaching us. So it’s much more boring to create a beautiful young princess. The artistic space for the design is limited from the beginning because her look is connected with very clear expectations. On the contrary to create an old warhorse with an exciting vita needs much more fantasy.
A concise look has furthermore a practical use. The special characteristics like dirt or sweat patches serve to distinguish groups from each other. Our river bandits for example are full of dirt – just like real bandits appear to look like (City people are much neater). Also within the group the optical differences show who’s the captain and who’s the sailor.
Of course we are geared to the DSA Pen & Paper samples. Problematic is the fact that many different artists have worked on the project and the drawings in the publications have changed over the years. Besides it’s almost characteristic for the DSA world that its designers use many elements from several eras like the medieval or the renaissance to create an own style. Our challenge is to unite the samples and own ideas and create a harmonious universe with a high recognition value.
Especially delicate is the work with the well known DSA figures, of which you already have a certain image in your head. To fulfill your and our pretensions we pick the artwork that comes the closest to the descriptions in the official texts. At the visualization we recognize the lifestyle of the character or its qualities as well. And of course we discuss a lot with each other! That’s how we get a result that is satisfying for everybody: A game with soul, whose characters are as deep and fascinating as the great river of time itself.
2010/01/14
In the eighth of overall fifteen developer’s diaries we want to present you the work of our quality assurance (QA) department. It reviews everything that the other departments produce – by trying to destroy it. Our testers only have one mission: To destroy what others have built up or at least they try to. The paradox in their work: They are happy if they’re failing.
But how do our testers proceed if the try to “destroy” the game? They bring an especially for the test created character into the game who has all the abilities and is in that way godlike. With this character they play the game from the beginning to the end in a way no player would usually do. Our leading tester has found a nice comparison for that: Just imagine a toddler getting a toy and being told: Be careful! Don’t break it! Imagine how this child would handle that toy and you know how our testers are using their all-round character in the game. And exactly like high quality toys can resist the biggest attacks of defiance of a willing to destruct little short-neck-monster our computer game has to stand up against every trick and attack of the “super character”.
That’s how it starts. Our testers get the testing construction and special tasks for example: Control all new monster icons! The particular tester goes into the game and checks his area. If he has to check the new monster icons he picks up every monster and takes a look if the icons are complete and do function. According to that we are testing very manually. We profit first of all from manpower, because many testers are working on “Drakensang: The River Of Time”. If one of them oversees something the next will find it. There are automatic testing methods but they are mainly suitable for games, defined with routines where the same thing is happening over and over again. With such a complex game like ours this methods don’t really fit.
Our department of Quality Assurance works with a bug databank. As mentioned before in addition to experienced work at the testing construction our testers have the assignment to play the game like no sane person would usually play it – and despite that it has to work. If they find something conspicuous they write a bug about it and describe all the details. Later they place it in the bug databank.
The bugs are classified in four different categories. There are the severe so called A-Bugs. It’s even stipulated in the contract that a project can only contain a certain amount of A-Bugs. You have such A-Bugs if the game crashes or leads to a blocker. A blocker would be for example a certain item that you have to pick up to continue the game but you can’t. Then there are the so called B-Bugs. These are things that mainly appear in the quests. For example when a promised award fails to appear or when a player doesn’t receive experience points. That is annoying and disappointing but at least it doesn’t lead to an end point where the game wouldn’t be playable anymore. The third category is the C-Bugs. They are mostly graphic or of technical nature. And last but not least there are the D-Bugs. It’s about little nice ideas, for example if someone thinks that there should be another tree at a certain place. D-Bugs are therefore a matter of opinion.
To put it in simple terms there are also the classic bugs that are the hardest as well: Our tester goes into the game, touches something and the game crashes immediately. Then there are the more special bugs. We had one of them in our game: A graphic designer was playing with the animation. The consequence: If you’ve beat a monster it simply broke in the middle. That looked very brutal and it was also more than unrealistic. Our bug databank ranges from the simplest things – you want to pick flowers und it doesn’t work – to the really serious problems – you pick a flower the game crashes.
Depending on the level of difficulty we have to fight the bug as fast as possible or we have still time to let it crawl around in the game without risking any bigger harm. For that we have a priority list in the bug databank with the categories ranging from “urgent”, “medium” to “low”. After the bug has been fixed by the other departments it gets checked again. Our testers have to look at everything over and over again if there isn’t still a bug hidden somewhere. In this process eventually the testers get the problem of a so called “tunnel view”, because they have played the same things several hundred times. That’s why we bring in new people for testing, who aren’t influenced and don’t know the product at all.
Almost every day there is a new version in which new items have been tested or repaired that have to be checked again. Then our testers have to play the game once again from beginning to end. In “Drakensang: The River Of Time” it takes over seven hours “to run” through the pure main quest.
But how can we make sure that in the end there will be as little bugs as possible and a relatively stabile game? For one thing it’s very important that in the planning phase of the projects we set all the main points very clear, what when where will be built in. For that we develop a so called milestone plan. We have a milestone every month and a deadline, until which a certain amount of items have to be finished. That means also that at this point these things have to be testable. These milestones are great indications for us if we want to see where we’re standing in the production. Our testers are geared to them as well.
Besides there is a time span in the end of any good production, that is reserved only for fixing what was left out in the production flow – and of course we have that time with “Drakensang: The River of Time”. The number of testers is changing as well. During the production cycle more people work in the production and less are testing. This relation reverses always the closer the end of the production is moving, what is only logical because the more is finished the more has to be tested and the less has to be produced.
That the bug fighting of the first part of “Drakensang” has worked out so well isn’t only the result of the good work the Quality Assurance department has done. All the departments were part of that. With “Drakensang: The River of Time” we want everything to work out that good as well, if not even better. For that the conditions are supposably fortunate because now even more people are working on our new project. And the more pairs of eyes are on the bug hunt the worse are the chances for these little delinquents to stay undetected.
2009/12/17
In the seventh of overall fifteen developer’s diaries we introduce you to the department of environment design. Its honorable task is to give the aventurian world the distinctive look. True to the motto: Why wander around in the distance when good things lie nearby.
After the story has been written and our level designers have set the first artistic fix points our specialists from the environment design department come into operation. They are modeling miscellaneous objects like houses, rocks or trees and cover them with harmonious textures.
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We’ve got our inspirations directly in front of our doorsteps: The Thuringian Forest or franconian timbered houses. Lonely castle ruins and historical city centers. The source for eligible material is almost inexhaustible in the South and Central of Germany. The paintings and sketches of Ludwig Richter or Carl Spitzweg were great inspirations for us as well. In them you can find highpoints of the romantic view on the medieval. All this – authentic medieval artwork and art from the 19th century – has come together in “Drakensang: The River of Time” and results in a very unique, fantastic style.
So that the theory gets realized we’ve hired a photographer for „Drakensang“and „Drakensang: The River of Time”. In particular in Thuringia, Bavaria or Saxony he searched for the right motives and shot them. This includes not only complete buildings but detailed objects like autumn foliage or tree bark. Because “Drakensang: The River of Time” is set in the time of late summer until early winter we needed a sample for snow as well – fresh snowfall that sparkles and creates this unique atmosphere. Buildings, plants etc. served us directly as samples for models and textures.
Of course you have to pay attention when photographing the objects. Diffused light is a basic requirement to capture structures and colors in the most natural way. That’s why a part of the pictures have been taken in a studio where we’ve rebuilt a whole wildflower meadow with more than 20 different plant species. The effort is high but the result speaks for itself: The textures developed from photos are pin sharp and in every way authentic.
Typical for Central Germany are the beautiful spruce forests. While at “Drakensang” we had to pass on this special pine plants – unfortunately back then our software Speedtree only contained plant species form the southern hemisphere – there are now real spruces in the game. That means you will have an adventure in an imaginably believable surrounding.
But this are by far not the only innovations and improvements compared to the predecessor: In „Drakensang: The River of Time” the modern Shader effect get used much more consequently. They regulate the surface structure and make it possible to design salient stones on walls, reflections in the water and impressive back light. You will recognize another light effect if you will look in to the forest from distance. The light is getting duskier – and not only when you step into the forest. With all this we are very careful not to slay you with the effects. They are supposed to boost the atmosphere of the game, to intensify, but not destroy it.
So that the game feels right we are often forced to improvise and sometimes even to use tricks. Keyword: Building models – Many of you have asked themselves if the relations between outer and inner perspectives are actually right. We’ll reveal it to you: Often they are not correct. So the rooms in taverns are about four times bigger than they appear to be from the outside. The great challenge for us is that you won’t notice that little trick and that the dimensional shifts “feel right”. The same applies to the plant world: Spruces are likely 150 meters high sometimes in our game. In this way they stick out even in a rocky landscape and contribute like that to a harmonious overall picture.
As well as the photorealistic textures get a picturesque coating the dimensions have to be adapted to certain game requirements. The art is to arrange single components in a way that esthetics and functionality harmonize together – in the style of the above mentioned romantic painters Richter and Spitzweg. Because that’s how we create an Aventuria that doesn’t only look great but also has a lot of potential for identification.
2009/12/03
In the sixth of overall fifteen developer’s diaries we want to introduce you to the work of the animators. You could also call them the puppet players of the computer game because they have all the strings in their hands to move the characters in the game. Our animators don’t only bring the characters to life but also set actually lifeless objects in motion. Chains of a certain monster or worthless things in a storehouse with which something very special is happening… But we don’t want to give away too much. Maybe you can find it out already? Take a look at the published screenshots and you’ll get a hint!
But how do they accomplish to reproduce believably the motions of human, animal or monstrous characters? First they built up a skeleton to animate its single bones and “bring it to life”. Then they can give these bones any character by “dressing or undressing” the skin of the characters. To animate the bones as realistic as possible our animators need a good anatomical understanding.
For the animation of people or human characters a look into the mirror is quite helpful especially if it comes to facial expressions. To make it look as real as possible our animators study the play of their own facial muscles. It serves as an example for the animation of the humanoid figures. That can lead sometimes to very funny moments, especially if it comes to letting monsters make grimaces. Therefore the own acting skills in front of a mirror serve as prototype as well.
Apropos monster: Where do our animators find the role models for the movements of creatures that don’t really exist? Because such creatures are derived from primitive time animals they can resort in their musculoskeletal system. There are enough dinosaur movies they can watch. With the Ghul, a humanoid character, the animators got inspired by the look of it. Visually it’s similar with a gangly monkey as well as a zombie. So its motions, gestures and mimics have been adapted to that.
In „Drakensang: The River of Time” the “motion capture” takes have been especially made for the cut scenes that look essentially more alive and exciting than in the first part. The “motion capture” was already used with „Drakensang“, however not especially for the cut scenes but mainly for the fighting scenes and the game mechanics. These animations have been reused later for the cut scenes.
To achieve good motion capture takes our animators worked like they would be directing a movie. They decided before the filming how the actors would move, what they should say and so on. While filming they were able to give the actors precise instructions. This also exhausting part of the development of “Drakensang: The River of Time” had always something playful as well and brought us all not - only the animators - lots of fun.
In addition to the very realistic animation the motion capturing has the advantage that the things compared to “handwork” can be animated much faster. For example a character that is simply supposed to walk usually would take our animators three days in the cutting. With motion capturing this step including the post production takes only a few hours. The post production is necessary because our animators can’t take over everything that comes from the studio to one hundred percent. They have to work it a little bit more to distinguish the poses or exaggerate some moves because this sort of accentuation appears better in the game.
Motion-Capturing saves a lot of time and work. That’s why it was used in a great part of “Drakensang: The River of Time”. But the handmade animation is still being used for the game because it’s impossible for actors to imitate some of the monsters.
With „Drakensang: The River of Time” it was an advantage that a large library of animations already existed. For each and every “skeleton” – man, woman, dwarf – there are almost 500 animations. Many of them are already based on the motion capturing. These have been adapted and taken over. So compared to the last part the movements of the characters are getting more and better.
If you’ll soon fight against monsters at the riversides you’re invited to imagine how that looked like when our animators have rehearsed the grimaces in front of a mirror or have been jumping around in the office to find the right moves.
2009/11/19
In the fifth of overall 15 developer’s diaries we want to introduce you to the work of the software engineers. That the great river’s flowing, that the monsters and allies are running around it and are teasing you or contesting an adventure with you: Many powers are responsible for that. All of them are irreplaceable in their own way. Our programming department is the engine behind all of it that keeps the time flow in motion. Staff members from other departments are coming to them with the request: “Please, make it work!”
The main part of the work of our programmers is to prefabricate the steps and respectively form, what the other departments foremost the game designers had come up with. In the process our programmers of “Drakensang: The River of Time” benefit that the basic structure of the game already exists. They can focus all their energies on optimizing the details and embedding new features into the game. They put all lot of afford into improving the “tool-chains” to make the complete production flow more effective and the designed components even greater.
Another improvement is our “cut scene”- or “sequence”-editor. The programmers are working on it over a year now. With “Drakensang” they couldn’t put it into practice because they had to develop the complete technical framework first. With the new editor the “Cut scenes” are frame based. Which means it works like a modern cut program for movies. The cut scenes aren’t scripted anymore, but instead arranged in detail screens. The different traces of the events are set in a graphic surface and the changes can be viewed parallel in the game. So the system is also easier to operate for the graphic designer who is developing the cut scene and isn’t versed technically. He or she can transform the vision with only one click, what where and when shell happen and at the same time follow what is going on in the game. With it fundamentally more complex and interesting cut scenes can be designed.
We have told you already that in the first place our programmers are responsible to prefabricate and form the things that are coming from the other departments. But that is only half the truth, because it also happens that the programmers are making suggestions when they have a good idea. Sometimes they have an idea when they try to transform something from the game design department and realize that there is a much better and greater way to make it function. The programmers also think about alternatives if something our game designer want to have in the game can’t be put into practice like it was designed originally.
A good example for the creative collaboration of these two departments is the generating of characters that is giving many more opportunities in “Drakensang: The River of Time” than in the first part. At this point our game designers and the programmers agreed that something had to be changed and together they searched for solutions. You can find more about that in the developer’s diary of the game designers.
The improved generating of characters won’t be the only considerable change and advancement in “Drakensang: The River of Time”. In this game we put more focus on the dialogues of the diverse characters: An Amazon will approach another Amazon differently than a dwarf and a rough-and-ready Thorwaler will be talked differently to than a petite elf. The demeanor of the monsters has been changed in a few points as well. They won’t act too unfair anymore like for example is was the case with the (rat) mother Ratzinski in the first part.
The programming department has prepared all these innovations so the level designers can built them into the game. And that’s how they make sure that the river of time never stands still.
2009/11/05
In the fourth of overall 15 developer’s diaries we want to present you the work of our technical game designers. They are in charge of the game world and the rules and the systems that are effective in it. So they are one of the reasons ‘The River Of Time’ actually exists and that you experience your adventures at its riverbanks and not in some far away galaxies.
The base for the setting in our game is of course very well known and loved DSA cosmos from the Pen & Paper roleplay game of the same name. Because of that we have a complete roleplay game system as background that we can build our game world on. Although it brings certain problems along because it’s not possible to take over rules one-to-one from the Pen & Paper roleplay game to a computer game. We’ve tried that with “Drakensang” but had to realize quickly that it’s not possible because computer games run in speed as well as interaction fundamentally different.
And here is where our technical game designers appear to the scene. They are in charge of adjusting and optimizing the DSA rules so they’ll get suitable to be played on the computer. The maybe most symbolic example of such a modification: The computer is your game director. He even throws the dice for you and that hidden in the background. Even the dicing results stay hidden and will only be shown to you specifically at your demand if you belong to the ones who want to know. The ones of you who prefer to just play and experience the story without finding out to much about the mechanisms in the background can do that unobstructed.
Another important adjustment to the computer conditions presents also a change with the regeneration time. Our game designers have picked marvels for certain gods that some arch types will be able to learn. The regeneration time of this power can’t elapse like you’re usually used to from the DSA world. There the regeneration can take weeks or even months if a really great marvel was effective. We couldn’t and didn’t want to inflict that on you because it would have meant for you that the marvel only could been played a very few times in the whole game. That’s why this regeneration elapses much faster in our game.
The generating of the characters as well couldn’t be taken over one-to-one from the Pen & Paper roleplay game by our technical game design department. Too much data would have to be counted and considered when the player evaluates, escalates his hero or tries to accomplish the challenge – in this sense DSA 4 is too complex for a computer game. Even experienced longtime players would need at least two to three hours only to create a character for the first time. That’s why the characters in the first part of “Drakensang” have been almost completely formed and not changeable, because the focus was supposed to be on the playing experience itself. That had the advantage that you could choose one of the arch types. With this character you could have started the game right away. You didn’t need to equip it or distribute points – you generally didn’t waste any thought if you had done everything right and your character is up for the game. The arch types in the predecessor have been simply equipped so playing with them would be fun. With this we wanted to keep the intro barrier for newcomers as low as possible.
But there was some criticism from your side concerning the limited possibilities in creating characters. That’s why there will be more chances to interfere in the new game. Our technical game designers have reworked and balanced the expert modus in which the player can define the advantages and disadvantages of his character by himself. For example in the first part of Drakensang all this was completely specified in the first place. .Now you can choose yourself. They change your generating account just like the role play game is actually designed. But this is completely optional. There are still finished arch types that you can choose and start playing with right away. But now the expert modus really deserves its name and gives you the choice: If you want you can switch to it and change more data then before.
That our technical game designers are able to make all this improvements in the second part they owe to a great part the circumstance that a well balanced team is developing „Drakensang: The River of Time”. All departments know very well now where some difficulties could appear and where the strengths and weak points of every individual team mate are. For that reason the working process that was a little bit bumpy in the first game could be created much smoother and more effective. Changes in the game mechanic – last but not least the creating modus – result in a lot of changes in the code basis of the game. That’s when our software engineers with whom we have worked very close together throughout the implementation of the game mechanic, come into the game.
That the technical basic structure is already set is definitely important for our technical game design, because lots of time gets always lost on designing the first part. That time can be invested now in the small and big improvements und refinements. Besides essentially more freedom in creating characters and the visual refinements there will be for example additional so called “specific to species scripts” in the new game. The arch types will get among other things weapons that are tailored to their strengths or weaknesses. If for example a Thorwaler uses his powerful axe he’ll receive an extra bonus. Also he will be able to handle the axe the best and draw powers from it.
One of the many improvements in “Drakensang: The River of Time” are the little recipes how to upgrade and convert things that seems to be useless on the first sight. For that reason the advise: Don’t sell everything that you get in you hands right away, because it could turn out to be very valuable!
When you start your time travel along the river of time keep your eyes open! Not only because there are many beautiful things to see but also lots of things to discover.
2009/10/22
In the third of overall 15 developer’s diaries we want to present you the work of our level designers. They take care of the flow of the river of time, so it runs lively and doesn’t fiddle half dried out. Without the work of the level design department out river of time wouldn’t be nothing more than an empty setting. Because it’s them who fill its riverbanks with life.
Our level designers are the creative joint between the departments that deliver the required building blocks to combine it to a world. For example this could be a design parameter from the game design domain or characters from the graphic department they have to put into a game level they’ve previously produced with the environment art designers. That’s why it’s especially important to meet the deadlines. If they don’t get the needed elements delivered on time there’s no stage they can let the game take place.
But how do the level designers create such a level? With „Drakensang: The River of Time” they could perfectly layaway alongside the great river and see which interesting locations would occur to tell good stories. They have picked the places they liked the most or for example cities that haven’t been mapped already so they could create a brand new one. After that everyone working on that location was asked to collect ideas for stories which could be told there. These are the so called side quests. One of out level designers compares these side quests with small veins that are leading out of the big red string and back inside. You can also imagine them as many small distributaries of our great river of time. Sometimes these side quests are standing on their own. Roughly estimated they account 60 % of our game.
Let’s get to the locations. A good example for a city we’ve designed is Nadoret. First of all our level designers have drawn a rough map and thought through which regions they want to have. Should there be a forest? Different districts? Dungeons? Indoors? A harbor? Of course Nadoret has a harbor and accordingly anything a seaport has. All that was designed in the very first step of the layout phase. Our level designers are planning the complete landscape on paper. So they can consider which ways, locations etc. are required to let certain actions take place. They discuss this concept draft with our graphic art department to be able to transform all of it into a 3D model. When that is final our level designers begin to fill the landscape slowly with life. They built in the quest presenters, the protagonists, the enemies, the dialogs and the diverse technical tools like lightning effects or triggers that initiate different events.
But there is a cliff that the level design department as well as the game design department have to ship around elegantly: Several people are working at the different main locations. Nevertheless we want to maintain the consistent look and feel. In the end the separately built locations will be interweaved nicely with each other. It’s important to us as well that the information for the game player won’t appear multiple times: If you can find a info at several locations it has to be removed at one place and accentuated stronger at a different place. Next to such difficulties there are sometimes technical problems as well. For example sometimes our level design department can’t transfer an idea technically. In such cases they have to look for a solution together with the software engineers.
To sit at one creative junction between the departments also requires a inventive potential. Like with every creative process it all starts with a big brainstorming. After that it’s all about details like we’ve already described to you: The individual locations are being assigned to the respective level designer who think about which stories could be told there. This process goes hand in hand with the game design department. For each location they collect 50 to 60 quest ideas. Only the best will get into the game. In fact we always have an surplus of ideas out of which we pick the most fitting and the ones we are able to transfer technically. These ones our level designers built into the game.
With every idea that we built into a new game we are especially exited about your feedback. The ones of you that have played the Gold-Edition of Drakensang and had Forgrimm at their party surely can remember the point you can rant about old times with a captain. In this episode there is a story that our dwarf in no case wants to talk about. He even gets mad when you ask the captain about it. In “Drakensang – The River of Time” you will be able to play that story yourself and find out why Forgrimm is so mad about it. We won’t reveal any details. But we can tell you one little detail to make you curious: There will be an ox that will fall in love with a tavern sign. And somewhere in this love story Forgrimm comes into the game. It doesn’t matter if you know the DSA cosmos like the back of your hand or if you are just great Forgrimm fans – this episode will be a little highlight for you!
Our constant surplus of ideas keeps the quests varied and prevents any repetitions. Our level designers take special care to tell the stories as diversified as possible and challenge you with a variety of contents. We’ll put a lot more riddles into “Drakensang: The River Of Time“. We’ll create diversity in giving you multiple ways and solutions to solve a problem instead of having only one way. For example the different arch types will be able to solve and accomplish a task in their very own specific way.
That brings us to one of the main improvements opposite to Drakensang: In “The River of Time” we are much more focusing on and responding to the diverse arch types you can choose between. Especially in the first third the new game is strongly ramified. In the beginning your adventure will depend on which class you’ll be playing. There will be different quests that are completely independent from each other. These strands are splitting up the main quest and were designed entirely different.
You will notice that you choice of hero will have consequences at many quests. The tasks you will receive and how the characters in the game will react on your chosen one differ. So you’ll play the new Drakensang maybe more then once because you’ll be curious about the quests of the other classes…
The result: The River of Time isn’t that long anymore but substantially deeper and wider. You won’t regret to explore all its depths.
2009/10/08
In the second of overall 15 developer’s diaries we are presenting you the preproduction process. In this phase the basics of the game are being set and all fundamental decisions are being felt. In addition we’ll reveal, what computer wallpapers are able to move.
If you could walk through the offices of the Radon Labs and take a look at the monitors you would make an interesting discovery: Almost all of them have the same wallpaper. It shows a painting of Forgrimm holding baby Kladdis in his arms. Kladdis is picking the dwarfs beard. If you check out the player house in Ferdok you’ll find the same painting in the game. Behind it lies the creating process of Drakensang: The River of Time. Actually designed by coincidence for the first part, the painting became the inspiring idea for the story of Drakensang: The River of Time. The River of Time flows backwards for the observer and takes him to the events before “Drakensang”. This painting was the key to our new story and the idea of how Kladdis got into the group and how the three men Ardo, Forgrimm and Cuano met each other. The picture was created when we needed background stories for the characters. During the brainstorming the idea of the painting evolved and fortunately our lead character artist was able to draw the picture. It was all very last minute. In the beginning just three of us had the painting as desktop wallpaper on their computer. But soon many colleagues stopped by and said: “Oh, I want that too! That’s great!” After that we’ve thought what has worked out in the small way could work in the big picture as well. But more about that later.
The cooperation between our departments is not to underestimate and plays a decisive role in our work. It starts with the preproduction. A small team of game, level and character designers gathers and thinks about the main story that could be the basic to everything. Which features can be created? After the basic foundation has been built, the whole planning team gets involved that later will see the following process through. All that has to go very fast, mostly it takes two days. The next step is the raw concept in which the general regulations are being set up as well as details being defined what will be realized and how. The concept contains everything that will be in the game later: Locations, approximate timeline and number of characters. After the raw concept a finer one is being created: In which the several departments get involved and more details are being set. Together with the project management a timetable is being planned and as soon as all the unclarities has been smoothed out our game designers begin to write the game design document (the ‘GDD’ as we gently call it). Even the GDD is submitted to the river of time. It changes constantly throughout the developing process. All the new elements that get added or changed will be written in here. In addition to the GDD we have an advancement chart with a list of all the characters, monsters, items, weapons and other parts of the game. Finished parts are being marked so we can always read the current status.
The Story is literally a story apart. First it is designed very rough. Afterwards the licensor that is watching over the DSA world has to give his blessing. He is synchronizing the story with the DSA editorship. They give us their notes which our authors work into the story. They have to take care that after the changes everything will still be technically feasible. Then the circle repeats itself: Licensor, editorship, Radon Labs. With “Drakensang: River Of Time” fortunately only one round was necessary, because our authors know the world of The Dark Eye very well. Also important is the fact that the story has been created by a several people and not just one person. Because of that the story is constantly subjected constructive criticism and above all it stays comprehensible and realizable.
But let’s get back to the painting of Forgrimm and Kladdis now. The desktop wallpaper showed us one thing: During the development of the story the characters have to play a decisive role – for that reason we’ve put them into the foreground. The story evolves around them and not vice versa. Thereby we were led once again by your wishes. We have turned over the game bulletin boards and read what is really important to you: You want Forgrimm! You want to know what happened before “Drakensang”, you want exciting stories from Aventuria. Of course we have considered your suggestions for improvement. And it has enhanced a lot in the game.
This time we have had the great advantage not to start from scratch. Over the time developing “Drakensang” we have collected a rich pool of ideas and experiences that we have access to any time. That leaves us more time and space for the precision work to expedite the river of time even further and explore new unknown shores. Because we want you to experience a unique, thrilling, incredible and eclectic journey back on the river of time!
2009/09/28
„The River Of Time” is the name of our new computer roleplaying game from the DSA cosmos – the official follow-up to “Drakensang”. In the first of a total fifteen diaries we want to talk about the idea behind the game. In addition we want to introduce you to our creative game master Bernd Beyreuther, who is also the CEO of Radon Labs.
We were searching for the fitting title for our game for a long time. We even called out a little in-house competition that provided a lot of funny and bizarre suggestions. In the end we named it “The River Of Time”. Why this unusual almost philosophical name? some might be asking. The answer to that is simple. A river plays a huge part. And the time as well. Because the game takes you back into the past – to the events 23 years before the original “Drakensang” to be exact.
That brings up the question, what made us place the game before and not after “Drakensang”. The answer to this is a little bit more complex. But first things first: The story of “Drakensang” was never designed to be continued. It was epic. It would have been very difficult to tell an even bigger adventure in a sequel. We experienced with „Drakensang“, that the fascination was especially high with the smaller stories. They seem more vivid and personal. The more we would have gone into another epic, the more we would have neglected the smaller characters.
It shows clearly, what makes a fantasy roleplaying game a great one compared to others: Strong characters and a well drawn up story. They are not only attachments, not only carriers, but part of the game playing. This is where we tap the full potential of opportunities of the roleplaying game. The genre allows like no other to tell tightly woven, thrilling stories.
But we have another reason, a more emotional one. Anywhere for example in some TV shows, the feeling of the past, the youth and the childhood is being celebrated. And this yearning is also been found in the roleplaying game scene. There was a golden DSA time about 20 years ago. Back then many people played the classic Pen & Paper roleplaying games. And it’s this very people who are playing “Drakensang” today. From this time back in the days there’s the Phileasson-Saga by Bernhard Hennen. It is still one of the most popular campaigns and is reissued for the third time. In this saga the characteristics of DSA are featured most strongly. And that is what the people are aching for.
So far about our vision. Until we were breaking ground for “The River Of Time” it was a long and hard way. The development of the first part was a massive show of strength. For us - but also for the publisher. Not everything worked out as perfect as we have imagined it. The uncertainty how the game would succeed was always big as well. But because of the huge success of “Drakensang” we were able to start the next production right away. This time with proved and tested solid technical and organizational basics. Besides a precise analysis showed us what we have done right and less good. That helped us to set the goal.
But who decides what is more or less good? One of the heavy weights in this decision is the verdict and feedback of the DSA community. With “Drakensang” that was kind of scary to us, since no one could really know, if we have touched the nerve and realized the things right. We had to rely on our intuition. But that wasn’t the worst, because most of us are fascinated DSA fans and roleplaying gamers themselves.
Bernd is one of them that is infected incurably by the DSA virus. Since he met “The Black Eye” in 1980 for the first time, he’s coming back to Aventuria and discovers the areas between Al’Anfa and Thorwal, Havena and Tuzak. In a period of many, many years and together with friends, that are a part of Radon Labs today, Bernd turned from being a complete rookie to an experienced game master. We are all profiting of his concentrated knowledge at the development of “The River Of Time “.
We are staying in regular contact with the community at the RatCon. Bernd is reporting about the latest project and answering questions about our work. But it might happen that our guiding spirit needs help from the gods. That happened when he was peppered with questions about the system of rules at a speech he was giving. At this opportunity it finally avenged, that he as the game master always prefers the exciting and vivid stories. But the gods were gentle that day. And after the speech some audience member that made him sweat minutes before came up to him to congratulate. For creating among all the important rules a unique atmosphere. And us for being the right ones for the job.
Of course we listen to the community. That’s why there will be many improvements in “The River Of Time” compared to “Drakensang”. The story will be woven tighter, the relationships between the characters will be stronger identified. With the technical aspects the player can expect advancements and innovations as well. For example the long routes - often criticized by the community – will be shorter and the handling of the camera will be easier and more intuitive. In addition characters will be completely dubbed. With that we meet the concerns of the partial dubbing of “Drakensang”. Besides the characters can be configured in more flexible ways. There will be a modular construction kit with the new advantages and disadvantages of the fourth DSA edition rules built into the character regeneration.
In this way the community is constantly accompanying us on our path along the river of time.
